Sensory Processing Disorder

Many people with ADHD may also have sensory processing disorder. This is a neurological condition which presents as challenges with stimuli and the senses.

Not all diagnosed ADHDers might have SPD but many do and it just poses another challenge in managing the day to day for those who it does affect.

We knew nothing about Sensory Processing Disorder and yet the signs were there from a very early age. Things that were relatively normal for most people really annoyed and frustrated Leni.

Socks with seams were a huge trigger for him and there were mornings when he would sit there and get so upset because the seam of the sock was just too much for him to bear that day.

Crowds were and always have been confronting for Leni and something he would prefer to avoid if given the opportunity. There was one afternoon just before Leni was diagnosed that we decided to head into the Powerhouse Museum in the city to pass some time on a wet Sunday afternoon.

We honestly thought it wouldn’t be busy, but it would seem that everyone in Sydney had the same idea as us and although we all enjoyed it, poor Leni spent the afternoon repeatedly asking us to leave because there were too many people. He stayed close to us the whole time and was visibly uncomfortable but we just didn’t acknowledge how he felt and stayed there for ages.

It started to dawn on us that this was an issue when we attended more events where crowds had gathered and noticed the same behaviours from Leni at all of them.

Another stimuli that affects his senses and overwhelms him is loud noises. For example he competed in track events at the district athletics carnival the other day and the one thing he couldn’t stand was the starters gun. The loud bang unsettled him so much that he had no desire to race again after his first event. He also strongly dislikes it when his class is loud and will sit with his ears covered if he is somewhere, where the noise is just too much for him.

Sensory Processing Disorder won’t magically go away so for me it’s important that whilst I protect him from these uncomfortable feelings I ensure that as he gets older he learns to live with them so that he can function daily without so much discomfort.

If you have noticed small things in your child that make you go hmmm and it has nothing to do with C & C music factory, then it could likely be SPD.

I plan to try noise cancelling headphones the next time we go somewhere loud and crowded with Leni and as far as his socks go I try hard to find ones that don’t have an inside seam which can be a real challenge.

There are some great articles floating around about SPD that offer coping strategies that you might find beneficial so be sure to check them out too. I love ADDitude magazine because they have so many articles you can delve into and lots of articles that branch off from the main theme too!

Initially we dismissed Lenis feelings without really understanding where it may have been coming from. In fairness to us much of it was before his ADHD diagnosis so we were none the wiser.

Leni knows what triggers him and how it makes him feel so he will tell us when he is starting to feel uncomfortable and we can manage it from there. SPD is not something you can out grow, and much like ADHD it is something he will likely need to manage for life which is absolutely possible. Not fun but possible.